Kwadwom 5
1 Awurade, kae nea aba yɛn so; hwɛ, na hu yɛn animguase.
Remember, O LORD, what has happened to us. Look and see our disgrace!
2 Wɔadan yɛn agyapade ama ahɔho, wɔde yɛn afi ama ananafo.
Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners.
3 Yɛayɛ nyisaa na yenni agyanom, yɛn nanom yɛ akunafo.
We have become fatherless orphans; our mothers are widows.
4 Ɛsɛ sɛ yɛtɔ nsu a yɛnom; yebenya nnyina a, gye sɛ yɛtɔ.
We must buy the water we drink; our wood comes at a price.
5 Wɔn a wɔtaa yɛn no abɛn yɛn pɛɛ; Yɛabrɛ na yennya ahomegye.
We are closely pursued; we are weary and find no rest.
6 Yɛde yɛn ho maa Misraim ne Asiria sɛnea yebenya aduan a ɛbɛso yɛn.
We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.
7 Yɛn agyanom yɛɛ bɔne, na wonni hɔ bio, na yɛn na wɔn asotwe abɛda yɛn so.
Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their punishment.
8 Nkoa di yɛn so, na obiara nni hɔ a obegye yɛn afi wɔn nsam.
Slaves rule over us; there is no one to deliver us from their hands.
9 Yɛde yɛn nkwa bɔ afɔre de pɛ yɛn anoduan, afoa a ɛwɔ sare so no nti.
We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the wilderness.
10 Yɛn honam adɔ sɛ fononoo. Ɔkɔm ama atiridii abɔ yɛn.
Our skin is as hot as an oven with fever from our hunger.
11 Wɔato mmea mmonnaa wɔ Sion, ne mmabun a wɔwɔ Yuda nkurow so.
Women have been ravished in Zion, virgins in the cities of Judah.
12 Wɔkyekyere mmapɔmma nsa na wɔasɛn wɔn; wɔmmfa nidi mma mpanyimfo.
Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders receive no respect.
13 Mmerante yɛ adwumaden wɔ awiyammo so; na mmerantewa nan toto wɔ nnyina duruduru ase.
Young men toil at millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood.
14 Mpanyimfo ntena kuropɔn apon ano bio; mmerante agyae wɔn nnwonto.
The elders have left the city gate; the young men have stopped their music.
15 Ahosɛpɛw afi yɛn koma mu; yɛn asaw adan agyaadwotwa.
Joy has left our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning.
16 Ahenkyɛw afi yɛn ti so. Yɛn ara, yennue sɛ yɛayɛ bɔne!
The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 Eyi nti yɛn koma atɔ beraw, eyinom nti yɛn ani so ayɛ kusuu
Because of this, our hearts are faint; because of these, our eyes grow dim—
18 wɔ Sion bepɔw a ada mpan na sakraman nenam so no nti.
because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate, patrolled by foxes.
19 Wo, Awurade, di hene afebɔɔ; wʼahengua fi awo ntoatoaso kosi awo ntoatoaso.
You, O LORD, reign forever; Your throne endures from generation to generation.
20 Adɛn nti na wo werɛ fi yɛn daa yi? Adɛn nti na wagyaw yɛn, mmere tenten mu yi?
Why have You forgotten us forever? Why have You forsaken us for so long?
21 Ka yɛn bata wo ho bio, Awurade, na yɛatumi asan aba wo nkyɛn; yɛ yɛn nna foforo sɛ tete no
Restore us to Yourself, O LORD, so we may return; renew our days as of old,
22 gye sɛ woapo yɛn koraa anaasɛ wo bo afuw yɛn mmoroso.
unless You have utterly rejected us and remain angry with us beyond measure.
